Bake Your Own Super Cupcakes!

Cupcakes are the best because they let you have that moment of cake, but on a personal level. You never feel like you ate too much with a cupcake, but a slice of cake can sometimes be overwhelming or too heavy.

Cupcakes don't care if you're into vanilla, chocolate or any possible combination of the two. Cupcakes are good both ways. If you have to feed a group, cupcakes make everyone feel like they got their fair share. With a cupcake, everyone can have a rose....

Depending on how you decorate them, cupcakes can go from casual to formal, from simple to elaborate, from kids birthday parties to weddings and gala balls.

To start off, I've included a vanilla cupcake, a special dairy-and-egg-free cupcake recipe and one for chocolate frosting. I'll periodically change them so you can share some of my favorites.

• 1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Start the oven pre-heating, setting it for 325 degrees.

Get your cupcake pans ready by lining them with paper liners.

Set-up your electric mixer with the paddle attachment. Use this to combine the flours, salt, sugar and baking powder, mixing on low speed. Then add the butter a few cubes at a time, and let it mix until the butter is just coated with the flour, then stop the mixer.

In a separate bowl, combine the vanilla extract, milk and eggs, whisking well. Turn mixer back on to medium and slowly pour in the wet ingredients. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl as you pour this part in. Do not overbeat the batter.

Use a small ladle or measuring cup with a spout to fill the cupcake tins. Only fill each cupcake liner two-thirds or your cupcakes will rise to far when they bake and burn onto the pan.

The cupcakes should bake for approx 17-20 minutes. Halfway through baking, rotate the pan in the oven. Test cupcakes to see if they are done by sticking a toothpick down into the center of a few of them. You want to see the toothpick come out "clean" with no batter sticking to it.

This recipes makes about 30 cupcakes.

When the cupcakes are done, tip them out of their tins and let them finish cooling by sitting on a wire rack. DO NOT FROST CUPCAKES UNTIL THEY HAVE COOLED COMPLETELY. Otherwise, the frosting melts and drips right off the cupcake.

Serve cupcakes at room temperature. Store them covered in plastic or sealed in the refrigerator. Eat within three days for best texture and freshness.

1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour

3/4 C. sugar

1/4 C. cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

5 T. vegetable oil

1 T. vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/4 C. water

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a one-dozen-cupcake pan with liners.
• In a large bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients together. Then add the vegetable oil, vanilla and water, mixing until the batter is one even color and has become smooth.
• Pour or ladle batter evenly into cupcake cups and bake for 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
• As an alternative to frosting, dust the tops of these cupcakes with powdered sugar!

• 1/2 C. butter
• 2 1/2 C powdered sugar
• 1/4 C unsweetened Dutch cocoa
• 1/4 C whipping cream
• 1 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate (1 square)
• 1 Tbsp. light corn syrup

In a bowl, combine cocoa, powdered sugar and salt. Melt chocolate in a microwave or using a double boiler and then combine with whipping cream.

In an electric mixer, beat butter on medium speed until creamy. Alternating pour in the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients, adding small amounts of each and scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

When the wet and dry ingredients have been added, stop the mixer and stir in the corn syrup.

This recipe frosts approximately a dozen cupcakes.